Systems and methods for differentiating and associating multiple drawings in a cad environment

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for facilitating CAD design of one or more structures by automatically categorizing and/or associating multiple drawings without pre-existing knowledge as to the type of drawings being categorized. In some examples, a computing system receives a set of CAD drawings from a third-party, and a host manager automatically determines which of the drawings are host, stand-alone, and external reference drawings. Moreover, the host manager can determine which of a set of external references comprises a broken reference, such as a network pathway that does not contain the desired external reference. For each broken or corrupt reference, the host manager can create a dummy (proxy) drawing that can be inserted in place of the broken reference so that the system can process (e.g., bind) the set of drawings without crashing. An interface may be further provided for displaying the categorized set of drawings to the user.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application: (i) claims priority from U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/157,460, filed Mar. 4, 2009 and entitled “Methods andApparatuses for Identifying a Host Drawing from Among a Set of CADDrawings”; (ii) is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/150,845, filed May 1, 2008; (iii) is a continuation-in-partof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/150,792, filed May 1, 2008, whichclaims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/915,198,filed May 1, 2007; and (iv) is a continuation-in-part of U.S.application Ser. No. 12/598,418, filed Oct. 30, 2009, which is a U.S.national stage application under 35 U.S.C. §371 of InternationalApplication No. PCT/US08/05602, filed May 1, 2008, which claims benefitof priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/915,195,filed May 1, 2007, each of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety to be considered part of this specification.

The present application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser.No. ______, entitled “Systems and Methods for Identifying Crash Sourcesin a CAD Environment” (Attorney Docket AUTOP.008A); filed on even dateherewith, and which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

Embodiments of the invention are directed to computer aided design (CAD)and, in particular, to systems and methods for managing the processingof multiple CAD drawings.

2. Description of the Related Art

CAD software is often used by designers, architects, engineers and thelike, to prepare two-dimensional (2D) CAD drawing(s) orthree-dimensional (3D) model(s) representing different physical objects,such as mechanical devices, bridges, buildings, automobiles, airplanesand the like. Oftentimes, the more complex the object, the morecomplicated the drawings tend to be that illustrate the particularobject. For example, with respect to a building, a CAD drawing caninclude details on the structural components of the building, such asthe beams, columns, walls, floors, windows, doors and the like(“frame”).

Most CAD designs are generated as a result of collaborative anditerative processes between multiple designers. For example, withrespect to a building, after the frame is designed by the architects andstructural engineers to create a base CAD drawing of the buildingstructure, that base drawing is then sent to other designers and/orsubcontractors to add their components to the design, such as HVACducting, plumbing layouts, electrical chases, fire sprinkler lines andthe like.

During the design process, the various designers have multiple optionsfor creating CAD designs for their specific portion(s) of the project.In the simplest case, all the designers can utilize the same CAD programused to create the base drawing. However, in many instances, designersutilize third-party programs that are specific to their particularfield, which requires exporting data from the base drawing to thethird-party program, creating the design using the third-party programand importing the data from the third-party program back into the basedrawing.

Alternatively, certain designers utilize a stand-alone product with itsown 3D intelligent design engine, such as the AUTOSPRINK program offeredby M.E.P. CAD, Inc. (Las Vegas, Nev.), to both create the base drawingsand add subcontractor designs, such as with fire sprinkler systems.

With multiple designers participating in the design and review processeson various versions of the CAD drawings for a particular object, anumber of problems can arise with respect to managing modifications,identifying and/or resolving conflicts, the reconciliation of 2D and 3Ddrawings, coordinating associations between related drawings and thelike. For example, in the process of adding M.E.P. (“mechanical,electrical, and plumbing”) trade designs to a base building orstructural drawing, it is common for conflicts to arise betweendifferent objects within that drawing (e.g., objects that share the samephysical space). Moreover, oftentimes when one object is moved orrevised to address a particular conflict, another conflict may becreated.

Furthermore, to expedite the design of subcontracted components for aparticular project, different subcontractors often work on theirmodifications to a building design in parallel with one another. Theseparallel modified CAD drawings are then combined to create a completedesign. While faster in some ways, this parallel process can createconflict problems, especially for large drawings. Furthermore, eventhough a subcontractor may only be responsible for a handful ofconflicts, that subcontractor would typically be sent the entire drawingwith all the different subcontractor conflicts along with a video and/ora conflict report, and be expected to find their conflicts and resolvethem. As a result, a first conflict resolution meeting or design reviewwill often be followed by several additional conflict resolutionmeetings as the correction of one set of conflicts can generate otherproblems. Hence, extensive time and resources are often expended toidentify and correct conflicts with CAD drawings.

Moreover, when sets of drawings are sent from one party to another(e.g., an architect to a general contractor), the drawings can becomedisassociated or detached from one another. These changes can requiresubstantial time and resources on the part of the receiving party toreload each drawing into a CAD program and attempt to visuallyre-associate each of the drawings to avoid broken references and/orother errors.

SUMMARY

In view of the foregoing, a need exists for improved systems and methodsfor facilitating CAD design. For instance, there is a need for systemsand methods that assist a user in automatically classifying and/orassociating drawings contained in a large set of drawings, especiallywhen the user is not provided with readily available information as tothe relationships between the drawings. Moreover, a need exists forinventive crash-resistant systems and methods that facilitate processingof multiple drawings, such as during a binding and/or batch compareprocess, and/or that identify potential crash sources.

Certain embodiments of the invention automatically re-associate hostdrawing files with their referenced files. For instance, when drawingfiles become disassociated from their parent directory or drive as theyare transferred between parties, the receiving party rarely knows whichdrawings represent host drawings and which represent external referencedrawings. Inventive systems and methods disclosed herein comprise a hostmanager module that automatically classifies received drawings andestablishes and/or identifies associations between the drawings, therebyresulting in a substantial savings in time and resources on the part ofthe receiving party.

Certain embodiments of the invention also advantageously provide forsystems and methods that automatically identify the causes of errorsduring one or more CAD routines or processes, such as while bindingX-refs to a host drawing and/or batch comparing multiple drawings. Forexample, multiple instances or sessions of a CAD program can be used totrack potential crash occurrences during a particular process anddynamically replace corrupt drawings or broken references with dummy orproxy drawings so that the desired process can continue to completion.

In certain embodiments, a method is disclosed for managing a batch ofCAD drawings. The method comprises receiving with a first computingdevice a plurality of CAD drawings associated with a design of one ormore structures, wherein the plurality of CAD drawings comprises atleast one host drawing and a plurality of external reference drawings.The method further comprises storing a list of the plurality of CADdrawings in a memory and, for each of the plurality of CAD drawings,accessing an external reference listing within the CAD drawing toidentify one or more external reference drawings related to theparticular CAD drawing. If the listing identifies no external referencedrawings, the method stores an identification of the particular CADdrawing within a first database. Otherwise, the method stores anidentification of each of the one or more external reference drawingswithin a second database. The method further comprises identifying asexternal reference drawings, with a host manager module executing on thefirst computing device, first ones of the plurality of CAD drawingsidentified in the second database and storing the external referencedrawings in a first location; identifying as stand-alone drawings, withthe host manager module, second ones of the plurality of CAD drawingsidentified in the first database and storing the stand-alone drawings ina second location; and identifying as host drawings, with the hostmanager module, third ones of the plurality of CAD drawings notidentified in the first or second databases and storing the hostdrawings in a third location. Moreover, the method can optionallyinclude outputting to a user interface an indication of the externalreference drawings, the stand-alone drawings and the host drawings.

Certain embodiments of the invention include a system for managing abatch of CAD drawings. The system includes a plurality of CAD drawingscomprising at least one host drawing and a plurality of externalreference drawings; a storage device configured to store the CADdrawings and a list of each of the plurality of CAD drawings; a firstdatabase; and a second database. The system further includes a hostmanager module configured to, for each of the plurality of CAD drawings:access a listing of the CAD drawing to identify any external referencedrawings associated with the particular CAD drawing, and store anidentification of the particular CAD drawing in the first database ifthe listing identifies no external reference drawings. If the listingidentifies external reference drawing(s), the host manager module storesan identification of each of external reference drawings within thesecond database. The host manager module is further configured to:identify first ones of the CAD drawings identified in the seconddatabase as external reference drawings and store the external referencedrawings in a first memory location; identify second ones of the CADdrawings identified in the first database as stand-alone drawings andstore the stand-alone drawings in a second memory location; and identifythird ones of the CAD drawings not identified in at least one of thefirst database and the second database as host drawings and store thehost drawings in a third memory location.

Certain embodiments of the invention provide a system for selectivelygrouping a batch of CAD drawings. The system comprises means forreceiving a plurality of CAD drawings comprising at least one hostdrawing and a plurality of external reference drawings and means forstoring a list of the plurality of CAD drawings. The system furtherinclude means for processing each of the plurality of CAD drawings byaccessing a listing of the CAD drawing structured to identify one ormore external reference drawings related to the particular CAD drawing.If the listing identifies no external reference drawings, the processingmeans stores an identification of the particular CAD drawing within afirst database. Otherwise, the processing means stores an identificationof each of the one or more external reference drawings within a seconddatabase. The processing means further stores first ones of theplurality of CAD drawings identified in the second database in a firstlocation, second ones of the plurality of CAD drawings identified in thefirst database in a second location, and third ones of the plurality ofCAD drawings not identified in the first or second databases in a thirdlocation. The system can also optionally include means for displayingrelationships between at least a portion of the CAD drawings stored inthe first and third locations.

In other embodiments, a method is disclosed for processing a batch ofCAD drawings. The method comprises opening a first session of a CADapplication; storing an identification of a first CAD drawing in a firstdata structure; and initiating a second session of the CAD applicationto process the first CAD drawing, wherein the first CAD drawingcomprises a plurality of references to a plurality of external drawingsassociated with the first CAD drawing. The method also includesprocessing the references to the plurality of external drawings of thefirst CAD drawing, wherein said processing comprises: selecting one ofthe references, storing in the first data structure an identification ofthe external drawing corresponding to the selected reference, andattempting with the second session to link (e.g., bind) thecorresponding external drawing to the first CAD drawing. The methodfurther includes monitoring with the first session said attempting tolink by the second session and, when said attempt is successful,clearing the first data structure of at least the identification of theexternal drawing corresponding to the selected reference and continuingto process, with the second session, another one of the plurality ofreferences if all the plurality of references have not been processed.When said attempt by the first session is not successful, the methodincludes storing in a second data structure, with the first session, theidentification of the first CAD drawing and the identification of theexternal drawing corresponding to the selected reference, and closingthe second session of the CAD application.

Certain embodiments of the invention include a system for processing abatch of CAD drawings. The system comprises at least one storage deviceconfigured to store a plurality of CAD drawings; a first instance of aCAD application executing on at least one computing device; and a firstdata structure configured to store an identification of a first one ofthe plurality of CAD drawings, wherein the first CAD drawing comprisesreferences to a plurality of external drawings associated with the firstCAD drawing. The system further includes a second instance of the CADapplication initiated by the first instance of the CAD application toprocess the first CAD drawing by attempting to individually link (e.g.,bind) each of the referenced external drawings to the first CAD drawing,wherein the second instance of the CAD application is further configuredto: store in the first data structure an identification of eachreferenced external drawing to be linked prior to attempting toindividually link the referenced external drawing, and remove from thefirst data structure the identification of the referenced externaldrawing after successfully linking the referenced external drawing tothe first CAD drawing. Moreover, the first instance of the CADapplication is further configured to monitor the second instance of theCAD application to detect an error event during said processing of thefirst CAD drawing by the second instance of the CAD application thatinterrupts said processing by the second instance of the CAD applicationand, upon detection of the error event, store to a second data structurethe identification of the referenced external drawing stored in thefirst data structure at the time the error event was detected.

Certain embodiments of the invention include a system for processing abatch of CAD drawings. The system includes means for storing a pluralityof CAD drawings to be processed, means for executing a first session ofa CAD application, and first means for storing an identification of afirst CAD drawing of the plurality of CAD drawings, wherein the firstCAD drawing comprises references to a plurality of external drawingsassociated with the first CAD drawing. The system further comprisesmeans for initiating a second session of the CAD application to processeach of the references to the plurality of external drawings, whereinsaid processing comprises: selecting one of the references, storing insaid first storing means an identification of the external drawingcorresponding to the selected reference, and attempting to link (e.g.,bind) the corresponding external drawing to the first CAD drawing. Ifsaid attempt is successful, the first storing means is cleared of atleast the identification of the external drawing corresponding to theselected reference and another one of the references is selected forprocessing if all the references have not been processed. If saidattempt to link by the first session is not successful, the firstsession stores in a second means for storing the identification of thefirst CAD drawing and the identification of the external drawingcorresponding to the selected reference, and the second session isclosed by the first session.

Certain embodiments of the invention provide a method for processing abatch of drawings. The method comprises processing one or more drawingsfrom the batch of drawings until a problematic data structure having alocation in a drawing among the one or more drawings is encountered thatwould cause said processing to crash if not averted. The method furthercomprises stopping or interrupting said processing, creating a proxy forthe problematic data structure and inserting the proxy into the drawingat the specified location in place of the problematic data structure.The method further includes creating an entry in a log stored in amemory including information related to the problematic data structure,including said location, restarting said processing at a restart point,and repeating each of the preceding acts until said processing of thebatch of drawings has completed.

Moreover, in certain embodiments, the above processing comprises atleast one of: a comparison process between a first set of drawings and asecond set of drawings among the batch of drawings, a clean-up processwherein one or more drawings in the batch of drawings are processed in amanner similar to a base drawing to create one or more cleaned-updrawings, and a comparison process between the one or more cleaned-updrawings and one or more other drawings within the batch of drawings.

In certain embodiments, a method is provided for cleaning up a batch ofdrawings, each including a first plurality of data structures. Themethod comprises recording a series of functions activated by a user toclean up a second plurality of data structures in a base drawing;performing the series of functions on the first plurality of datastructures in each drawing until a problematic data structure having alocation in a drawing in the batch of drawings is encountered that wouldcause said performing to crash if not averted; stopping said performing;creating a proxy for the problematic data structure; inserting the proxyinto the drawing at the location in place of the problematic datastructure; creating an entry in a log stored in a memory includinginformation related to the problematic data structure, including thelocation; restarting said performing at a restart point; and repeatingsaid performing to said restarting until said performing has beencompleted for each drawing in the batch of drawings to create a set ofcleaned-up drawings.

Certain embodiments of the invention further utilize at methodcomprising: comparing a plurality of data structures in at least a firstcleaned-up drawing among the set of cleaned-up drawings to a pluralityof data structures in at least a second cleaned-up drawing until aproblematic cleaned-up data structure having a cleaned-up drawinglocation in either the first cleaned-up drawing or the second cleaned-updrawing is encountered that would cause said comparing to crash if notaverted; stopping said comparing; creating a proxy for the problematiccleaned-up data structure; inserting the proxy into the first cleaned-updrawing or the second cleaned-up drawing at the cleaned-up drawinglocation in place of the problematic cleaned-up data structure; creatingan cleaned-up drawing entry in a cleaned-up drawing log stored in thememory including information related to the problematic cleaned-up datastructure, including the cleaned-up drawing location; restarting saidcomparing at a restart point; and repeating each of the preceding actsuntil said comparing of the batch of drawings has completed.

A further embodiment of the invention provides a method for comparing atleast a first drawing in a batch of drawings to at least a seconddrawing in the batch of drawings, each drawing in the batch of drawingsincluding a plurality of data structures. The method includes: comparingthe plurality of data structures in the first drawing to the pluralityof data structures in the second drawing until a problematic datastructure having a location in either the first drawing or the seconddrawing is encountered that would cause said comparing to crash if notaverted; stopping said comparing; creating a proxy for the problematicdata structure; inserting the proxy into the first drawing or the seconddrawing at the location in place of the problematic data structure;creating an entry in a log stored in a memory including informationrelated to the problematic data structure, including the location;restarting said comparing at a restart point; and repeating each of thepreceding acts until said comparing of the batch of drawings hascompleted.

For purposes of summarizing the disclosure, certain aspects, advantagesand novel features of the inventions have been described herein. It isto be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may beachieved in accordance with any particular embodiment of the invention.Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner thatachieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taughtherein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taughtor suggested herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example dialog box for a clean-up utility, inaccordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example external reference resolution dialog box,in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example dialog box for a block and attributeutility, in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example dialog box for a hatch utility, inaccordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example dialog box for a line utility, inaccordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example dialog box for a dimension utility, inaccordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example dialog box for a text utility, inaccordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example dialog box for a layer utility, inaccordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example wizard profile builder utility, inaccordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 10A illustrates a process flow diagram of an example clean-upwizard process, in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 10B illustrates an example block diagram of a system forclassifying drawings in a CAD environment, in accordance with certainembodiments of the invention;

FIGS. 10C and 10D illustrate an example flowchart of a process that canbe performed by the system of FIG. 10B for automatically classifying CADdrawings;

FIG. 10E illustrates an example dialog box of a main interface for ahost manager utility, in accordance with certain embodiments of theinvention;

FIGS. 10F illustrates an example flowchart of a crash log process usablein binding external references in a CAD environment, in accordance withcertain embodiments of the invention;

FIGS. 10G through 10I illustrate example dialog boxes for a masterdrawing management reports utility, in accordance with certainembodiments of the invention;

FIG. 10J illustrates an example dialog box of a host manager utility, inaccordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 10K illustrates an example block diagram of a system for managingcrash events in a CAD environment, in accordance with certainembodiments of the invention;

FIG. 11A illustrates an example dialog box for a compare zoom feature,in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 11B illustrates an example dialog box of a review utility, inaccordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

FIGS. 12A through 12C illustrate example dialog boxes for a comparisonfeature, in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 13A illustrates an example dialog box for a batch load utility, inaccordance with certain embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 13B illustrates an example screen display of a bottom portion of abatch compare utility dialog box, in accordance with certain embodimentsof the invention; and

FIG. 13C illustrates an example dialog box for a crash log reportsutility, in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The features of the systems and methods will now be described withreference to the drawings summarized above. Throughout the drawings,reference numbers are re-used to indicate correspondence betweenreferenced elements. The drawings, associated descriptions, and specificimplementation are provided to illustrate embodiments of the inventionand not to limit the scope of the disclosure.

In addition, methods and functions described herein are not limited toany particular sequence, and the blocks or states relating thereto canbe performed in other sequences that are appropriate. For example,described blocks or states may be performed in an order other than thatspecifically disclosed, or multiple blocks or states may be combinedinto a single block or state.

Where this specification refers to the system's characteristicsdescribed herein, note that the same description applies to relatedmethods, apparatus, and computer programs. In certain embodiments, theinvention comprises a software program written in AutoLISP and operatesin a stand-alone fashion or in conjunction with the AUTOCAD platform byAutodesk, Inc. (San Rafael, Calif.), on any appropriate computer systemor device. For instance, as utilized in conjunction with AUTOCAD,certain embodiments of the invention, once installed, are incorporatedinto the standard menu bar for the AUTOCAD program so that one or morefeatures and/or functions disclosed herein are readily accessible withinthe AUTOCAD system.

It will be appreciated, however, that embodiments of the invention arenot limited to the AUTOCAD platform and can be utilized in conjunctionwith other CAD programs, such as, for example, REVIT, VISIO,MICROSTATION, ARCHICAD, BRICSNET, TURBOCAD, INTELLICAD, CATIA or thelike. Moreover, in other configurations, embodiments of the inventioncan comprise one or more modules written in VisualBasic, C, C++, Java,Python, combinations of the same or the like. Furthermore, althoughcertain embodiments of the invention are described in the context ofbuilding design projects, other embodiments of the invention can be usedwith the design of other projects, such as, for example, roads, bridges,buildings, automobiles, aircraft, combinations of the same or the like,and/or with other CAD media, such as art, science, graphics combinationsof the same or the like.

The term “object” as used herein is a broad term and is used in itsordinary sense and refers to, without limitation, a fundamental unit forcreating a CAD drawing. For instance, objects can comprise graphicobjects, such as a line, arc, circle, any 2D or 3D entity, text,combinations of the same or the like. Objects can also comprisenon-graphic objects, such as attributes, building information modeling(BIM) data, metadata, extensions, combinations of the same or the like.

The term “block” as used herein is a broad term and is used in itsordinary sense and refers to, without limitation, any internal databaseassembly and/or collection of one or more graphic objects and/ornon-graphic objects in an independent unit.

The term “drawing” as used herein with respect to CAD drawings is abroad term and is used in its ordinary sense and refers to, withoutlimitation, any collection of one or more blocks that make up at least aportion of a design of a structure, article, vehicle, item, combinationsof the same or the like.

The term “external reference,” or “X-ref,” as used herein is a broadterm and is used in its ordinary sense and refers to, withoutlimitation, a file, drawing, design or other data structure thatcomprises an assembly of one or more objects referenced by anotherdrawing. For example, an X-ref may not be directly accessible oreditable to the user of the referencing (e.g., host) CAD drawing untilthe X-ref is inserted or bound into the drawing (e.g., thereby becominga block of the CAD drawing).

The term “entity” as used herein is a broad term and is used in itsordinary sense and refers to, without limitation, any drawing, block,object or other distinct, individual unit usable in CAD design.

Moreover, as further described herein, several of the accompanyingdrawings comprise illustrations of exemplary screen displays (e.g.,dialog boxes) that can be used with embodiments of the invention toperform many of the disclosed methods and processes. Thus, it should beunderstood that such screen displays provide a means for executingand/or initiating accompanying methods and/or processes and that theappropriate modules, which correspond to the particular process ormethod, can function based on input received through the screendisplay(s).

FIG. 1 is a screen shot representing a main dialog box 10, whichprovides a user interface for performing high-level tasks for certainembodiments of the invention. As illustrated, the main dialog box 10comprises a number of selectable buttons for accessing or performingvarious functions described in more detail herein. It will beappreciated that these buttons and functions described below are forillustrative purposes and that other embodiments of the invention caninclude a main dialog box 10 with more or fewer buttons than what isshown in FIG. 1. Moreover, although the dialog box 10, and otherinterfaces described herein, are described as having “buttons,” it willbe appreciated that other interface means can be used for obtaininginput from a user, such as, for example, drop-down lists, checkboxes,text boxes, combinations of the same or the like.

With reference to dialog box 10, the “Q-Save” and “Save As” buttonsallow a user to perform a quick save of an open CAD drawing, or to savethat drawing under a different name/location, respectively. In somecases, the buttons have a number written to either their left or rightside. In certain embodiments, when that number is “0,” the button isinactive and the text written on the button is only lightly visible.When the number is greater than “0,” the button is active and the textwritten on the button is darkened. Irrespective of whether a buttonillustrated in FIG. 1 or any of the drawings is active or inactive, thepresent description will treat the button as active and discuss thefunctions and attributes associated with the buttons.

Clean-up tasks can be performed starting with the wizard function,illustrated in the upper one-third of FIG. 1, and then by selecting thetasks represented by the buttons listed below the wizard function. Incertain embodiments, these buttons are advantageously arranged in anorder that the user can use them to resolve all entities in thedrawings. For example, in certain embodiments, “X-refs” should beadvantageously resolved first. Thus, the top button in the left columnof buttons in FIG. 1 is the X-refs button 12.

Once the X-refs are converted to blocks by inserting or binding theX-refs into the current drawing, the blocks can then be expanded or“exploded.” In certain embodiments, to expand a block means to explodethat block within the current drawing to reveal the constituent partsand/or attributes of the block. In certain situations, it can benecessary to expand a block in order to obtain a more completeunderstanding of what is included in that block and/or to make use ofinformation included in the block.

The user can continue in this fashion, moving from button to button tothe bottom of the left column. Once all the tasks represented by thebuttons in the left column have been completed, the user can then moveto the buttons at the top of the right column and proceed downward. Incertain embodiments, the “Help,” “Purge” (e.g., to remove an item fromthe database that has already been removed from a drawing) and “Exit”functions activated by the buttons at the bottom of the dialog box 10can be performed at any time. For instance, the Exit function exits thecurrent utility or function and returns the user to the main system.

As noted above, since X-refs are not usually manageable by the currentdrawing (e.g., the drawing being resolved), the X-refs must first beinserted into the drawing in order for the objects in the X-refs tobecome manageable (i.e., gripped and/or edited) within the parentdrawing. Such can be accomplished through the X-ref utility of certainembodiments of the invention. In certain embodiments, the X-ref utilityeither inserts the X-ref as a block into the current drawing or deletesthe X-ref. When an X-ref is converted to a block, the elements orobjects of the X-ref belong to the block, which belongs to the currentdrawing, and can be manipulated within the current drawing.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, there is one (1) X-ref in the associated CADdrawing, as reflected by the “1” next to the X-refs utility button 12.In certain embodiments, this X-ref must be resolved before the user cancontinue the cleaning and/or reduction process. In certain embodiments,when the “X-refs” utility button 12 is selected, the X-refs are gatheredand sorted as to their hierarchy and availability.

In certain circumstances, some X-refs may not be available (e.g.,missing or detached), even though a reference to the X-ref exists in thedrawing and may result in a larger number of X-refs being reported inFIG. 1. If an X-ref is not available, it must still be fixed in theX-ref utility, as further described below, in order to reduce the X-refslisted in FIG. 1 to zero.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary screen shot of an X-ref resolution dialog box 14of the X-ref utility, according to certain embodiments of the invention.In certain embodiments, each of the X-refs attached to the currentdrawing that exists in the specified search path, is listed in a toppane 16. In certain embodiments, the X-refs listed in the top pane 16can include stand-alone X-refs and nested X-refs (e.g., X-refs withother X-refs attached). However, in certain embodiments, the top pane 16does not draw any distinction between stand-alone X-refs and nestedX-refs because both can be found and the characteristics of the X-refscan be determined.

Bottom pane 18 lists X-refs that are attached to the current drawing buteither cannot be found in the specified search path and/or do not exist.If the X-ref is a stand-alone X-ref, then the bottom pane 18 indicatesthat it is attached to “This Drawing.” If the X-ref is nested, then thebottom pane 18 provides the search path for that X-ref.

In certain embodiments, the first X-refs listed in the top pane 16 andbottom pane 18 are highlighted to signify that they will be the firstX-refs in either pane to be processed by default. In certainembodiments, the user can select other X-refs for processing instead by,for example, mouse clicking on a desired X-ref in the panes of thedialog box 14. The buttons listed above and immediately below top pane16 give the user various processing options for any X-refs in the toppane 16 and any X-refs in the bottom pane 18 that include nested X-refs.

For example, the “Open” function opens the selected X-ref in anothereditor. This enables the user to look at what is in the file, to detachX-refs that are attached to the selected X-ref, to delete the file,combinations of the same or the like. The “Detach” button allows theuser to remove the selected X-ref from the current drawing. The“Isolate” button allows the user to turn off all the layers associatedwith all other X-refs in the current drawing, except those layersassociated with the selected X-ref. This allows the user to view theelements (objects) associated with only the selected X-ref.

The “Undo” function undoes an action that changes the database of thecurrent drawing. In certain embodiments, the undo feature is onlyeffective at undoing “Detach,” “Insert,” “Insert All,” “Bind” and “BindAll” commands. The “Undo” function further serves to erase the memory ofthe wizard function (to be described in detail below), which can recordspecific actions taken by a user for later use.

The “Insert” function inserts the selected X-ref into the drawing, thuschanging the X-ref, which cannot be directly managed, into a block thatcan be managed. The “Insert All” button can activate a similar functionfor all the X-refs. The “Bind” button is used to bind a selected X-refinto the drawing, thereby changing the X-ref into a block. The “BindAll” button triggers the same binding function for all X-refs.

Although the Insert and Bind functions appear to perform similarprocesses, there is at least one difference in the way an X-ref ishandled from one function to the other. When an X-ref is inserted into adrawing, any blocks or layers in the drawing that are in the X-ref areappended to the table for the corresponding block that is created. Whenbinding an X-ref to the drawing, the table objects (e.g., layers,blocks, etc.) that are found in the X-ref are preceded with a field nameof the X-ref. For example, if there is a layer named “WALLS” in an X-refnamed “XYZ” and the Bind function is used, the layer would be named“XYZ$0$WALLS.” If the Insert function is used, the layer's name wouldremain “WALLS.”

In certain embodiments, the buttons immediately under the bottom pane 18are used to address unfound X-refs. The “Fix” function removes allreferences that do not exist from the selected X-ref, relative to thecurrent drawing, but does not remove the X-ref itself. The “Fix All”button activates the same function all missing X-refs. In certainembodiments, the Fix and Fix All functions do not insert the missingX-refs into the drawing and do not repair the missing X-refs. Rather,they attempt to re-attach the X-ref in some manner so it can then bedetached from the current drawing. The “Detach” function removes theselected missing X-ref completely from the current drawing, and “DetachAll” performs the same function for all missing X-refs. In certainembodiments, all four command functions can be quickly used to resolveall missing X-refs to zero.

Once all the X-refs have been resolved, the user continues resolving theblocks by selecting the “Blocks” button 20 in FIG. 1. When the Blockbutton 20 is selected, the program gathers and sorts the blocks based ontheir hierarchy and availability, including all the blocks in the parentdrawing and nested in other blocks.

Once the blocks have been gathered, they are sorted alphabetically andlisted in dialog box 22 of the Block and Attribute Utility illustratedin FIG. 3. In certain embodiments, Block Name pane 24 displays theblocks in the current drawing, with nested blocks proceeded by “>>”immediately following the parent block. For instance, as many as eightto ten or more nested blocks can be listed under a parent block. Incertain embodiments of the invention, all blocks are intelligentlyhandled to ensure that elements related to a block are placed on theelement layer of that block and not the parent block layer or layer -0-when the blocks are expanded.

Attributes pane 26 lists the attributes associated with a selected blockin the block pane 24. In general, attributes comprise one or morefields, such as metadata, associated with a block or part of a block. Anattribute that contains one field of displayable information typicallyhas three subfields: a tag; a prompt; and a value. The tag is the nameof the field. The prompt is the text displayed at the AUTOCAD commandline, which directs or prompts the AUTOCAD user to specify informationpertaining to the block. The attribute value provides additional detailfor the tag.

When the “Explode” command is utilized on a block within AUTOCAD, theAUTOCAD program does not usually place all the elements in that block onthe proper layer. As a result, attributes associated with that block canbe lost. Likewise, using the AUTOCAD “Explode” command on an attributetypically leaves the user with only the name of the field in theattribute. For example, an attribute with a tag of “ROOMNO” becomesexactly “ROOMNO,” and any other information, such as a value, in thesubfields is lost. Thus, if a block named “ROOMID” is insertedthroughout the drawing with tag information of “ROOMNO” and values of“RM#2111” and “RM#2112,” the values can be lost and simply become“ROOMNO.”

In certain embodiments, the buttons listed above the Block Name pane 24pertain to the blocks in the Block Name pane 24. Since any action takenon a block can affect the attributes of that block, if a block selectedin the Block Name pane 24 has attributes, the “Delete All” and “ExpandAll” buttons can disabled, which forces the user to process theattributes in the Attributes pane 26 and/or to make proper decisionsabout the available information associated with the attributes. Once theattributes are processed, the block buttons are re-enabled.

The middle grouping of buttons, between the Block Name pane 24 and theAttributes pane 26, apply to the blocks listed in the Block Name pane24. The “Reduce Number of Selected Blocks to 1” function deletes all theselected blocks except for one of the selected blocks, and only if theblocks selected have multiple insertions with all the same parameters.This function is useful when a number of blocks share identicalinformation and exploding all of those blocks would result in theduplication of that identical information within the current drawing bythe number of blocks (e.g., each identical object stacked on top of eachother identical object). This way, one block is kept with the necessaryinformation, and the rest are deleted.

The “Delete Block” function deletes the selected block. The “ExpandBlock” function expands or explodes the selected block. In certainembodiments, if the selected block has attributes, the Delete Blockand/or Expand Blocks button are disabled until the attributes areprocessed. The “View” button is used to write the block to a phantomname in storage and then to open the block in a new editor so the usercan view the contents of the block before expanding or deleting theblock (e.g., a preview function). When viewing a block, the system isset by default to automatically zoom to the location of the block withinthe drawing, versus requiring the user to manually search for and locatethe block. The “Turn AutoZoom On/Off” button allows the user to togglethe auto zoom feature on or off before using the view function.

The buttons under the Attributes pane 26 apply to the attributes. If ablock in the Block Name pane 24 is highlighted and that block containsattributes, those attributes can be listed in Attributes pane 26. Forexample, the block “Bathtub-1q-flat-1,” which corresponds to a bathtub,selected in the Block Name pane 24 contains a number of attributes thatare listed in the Attributes pane 26. These attributes containinformation about the material used to make the bathtub, its modelnumber, the manufacture of the bathtub and its trade name. Theattributes also include a type indicator, such as if the attribute textis preset (PRE), needs to be verified (VER), is a constant (CON) or isinvisible (INV).

The “Remove Invisible Text” button allows a user to delete attributeshaving an invisible type of text. In certain embodiments, invisible textis text that is only displayed under certain conditions, but isotherwise displayed as empty boxes or rectangles. For instance, text maybe designated as “invisible” based on a particular bit value in thetext's attributes.

In certain embodiments, it can be very time consuming to isolate anddelete invisible text using a CAD drawing program, especially whenworking with hundred of drawings. In view of these drawbacks, certainembodiments of the present invention enable invisible text to be easilydeleted, such as when the user knows that the invisible text will not beneeded for his or her purposes. However, as certain other embodiments ofthe invention can utilize invisible text when automating the conversionof 2D beams and columns into 3D beams and columns, great care should beexercised when using the remove invisible text function.

The “Remove Selected Text” function removes the value of text from theselected attribute. When a block corresponding to the selected attributeis expanded, the text contained in the removed value will be blank. Forexample, the plumbing contractor may not need to keep information aboutthe material used to make the tub and its product and trade name.Rather, the model number may be sufficient. In such a case, the user maywant to remove all the text except for the model number. Since differentblock/attribute information can be important to different users, the“Delete Block and Att's” button enables the entire block andcorresponding attributes or other associated information to be deleted,while the “Expand Block and Att's” button allows the block and allinformation in the corresponding attributes to be expanded into thecurrent drawing.

Referring back to FIG. 1, “AEC” button 28 is active when the drawingbeing processed contains AEC objects, or proxy objects created by otherAutoDESK products, such as Architectural Destktop (ADT). In certainembodiments, these proxy objects are only displayed in a CAD drawing ifthe extension file (e.g., object enabler) for these objects is loaded.If the required extension file (e.g., an .arx or .dll file) is notloaded, then the basic elements that make up the object are collectedunder their respective definition buttons (e.g., lines button 38,arcs/circles button 44, etc.) and processed accordingly. If objectenablers are loaded, the function of the “AEC” button 28 can break anyAEC objects present into blocks, thereby causing the user to return tothe Blocks button 20 to further process those objects.

“Custom” button 30 activates a similar function as the AEC button 28.Custom objects are objects defined by non-AUTOCAD drawing systems, suchas CAD-Duct, a 3D drafting software package by Micro ApplicationPackages Ltd. (United Kingdom). Custom objects can be typically definedby an extension file such as .arx, .dll or .dbx. In certain embodiments,the custom objects can include complex objects made up of polygon meshesor 3D faces.

For example, a ball can be represented by a polygon mesh by defining thefulcrum point and a radius of the sphere. The smoothness of the ballwould depend upon the resolution of the mesh. In certain embodiments, amesh surface is akin to a window with four panes, whereas a 3D face isakin to a window with a single pane. The shape of any object can bedefined by each connection point of each pane by giving each connectionpoint x-, y- and z-coordinates. If custom objects, are present in thedrawing, then selecting the Custom button 30 will break the customobjects into blocks for processing. If the object enabler for a customobject is not present, the basic elements forming that object arecollected and processed accordingly.

“Hatching” button 32 of the dialog box 10 causes all hatch patterns inthe current drawing to be automatically gathered and the Hatch Utilitydialog box 34 of FIG. 4 to be opened. In certain embodiments, a hatch isan object that applies patterns to user defined areas, usually definedby enclosed boundaries. As shown in FIG. 4, the Hatch Pane 36 presentsthe user with a list of the hatches used in the subject drawing. When ahatch pattern within the Hatch pane 36 is selected, such as “WOOD_(—)5,”the hatch utility automatically zooms to the selected hatch pattern withthe current drawing and/or flashes/highlights the pattern to enable theuser to easily discern the hatch from other objects. This can be animportant function because hatches are sometimes used for physicalobjects (e.g., roofing tiles) versus designating the composition ofmaterial in an area (e.g., wood, gravel, sand, etc.). Thus, where it maybe desirable to delete a hatch related to the composition of materials,it may not be desirable to delete a hatch that defines a physicalobject.

If the user knows that none of the hatch patterns in the current drawingis needed, the user can select the “Delete All” button at the top of theHatch Pane 36. In certain embodiments, selecting the “Expand All” buttonwill cause all hatch patterns listed in Hatch Pane 36 to be explodedinto the objects the hatch patterns contain, such as lines, circles,arcs and the like. The buttons below the Hatch Pane 36 give the user theability to expand or delete selected hatch patterns and/or hatchpatterns that are the same as the selected hatch pattern. In oneembodiment of the invention, each hatch pattern and the coordinates forthat pattern in the current drawing are saved for use by the wizardutility to improve the clean-up accuracy of subsequently processeddrawings. Also, in certain embodiments, the user can be provided with anadditional button (e.g., a “Modify” button) that enables the user tochange a selected hatch pattern to a different hatch pattern from a listof available hatch patterns. Thus, rather than delete an odd hatchpattern that was used in the drawing, the user would have the option ofmodifying or replacing the pattern.

Activation of “Lines” button 38 of the dialog box 10 of FIG. 1 causesthe current CAD drawing to be searched for duplicate lines. Duplicatelines are lines that are visually positioned on top of other lines ofthe same or substantially similar type. For example, duplicate lines areoften created when other users have manipulated the drawing or copied ortraced various areas of the drawing without cleaning up the extra linesthey created. These lines increase the size of the drawing file and cancause problems when subsequent work is performed on the drawing.

In certain embodiments, when the Lines button 38 is selected, a LineUtility dialog box 40 (see FIG. 5) appears. As shown, the dialog box 40presents the user with two primary options; the “Remove Duplicate Lines”button or the “Search Lines” button. If the Remove Duplicate Linesbutton is selected, the drawing is searched for duplicate lines, and anyduplicate lines the system finds are deleted. In certain embodiments, todetermine if a line is a duplicate, the system starts by gripping a lineand scanning the drawing array for any vectors that are geometricallyequal to the gripped line. If such a line is found, it is deleted, andthe system moves on to the next line. The Search Lines button operatesin a similar fashion, but allows the user to make a line-by-linedetermination, which can be helpful for finding lines that are notduplicate lines, but are buried behind other lines.

“Polylines” button 42 of the dialog box 10 works in the same fashion asthe Lines button 38, in that it can be used to explode or separatepolylines into separate segments, which can then either be left in thedrawing or deleted. In certain embodiments, a polyline comprises acomplex line that is formed of many segments and that can be left openor closed by connecting its end point to its starting point.

“Arcs/Circles” button 44 does not require any further user interaction.Rather, upon selection of the button 44, the drawing is searched forduplicate arcs and circles, and the duplicates are removed. In certainembodiments, a duplicate arc or circle is defined as two arcs or twocircles having the same properties and fulcrum point (x, y, z location).

“Dims” button 46 of FIG. 1 enables the user to set consistent formatsfor different dimensions throughout the drawing and prepares dimensionsfor import into other programs that may be used in conjunction with thepresent system. In FIG. 6, Dimension Utility box 48 is shown with dropdown menu selections for Layers, Units, Arrow Heads, Arrow Size and TextSize. The “Layer” menu contains a list of layers in the drawing,allowing the user to select the target layer for where dimensions shouldbe placed. The “Units” menu contains a list of units of measurement forthe properties of the dimension (e.g., “Architectural,” “Decimal,”“Engineering,” “Fractional” and “Scientific” options). For example,architectural units could all be set to use closed arrow heads andarrows/text of a specific size.

The “Zoom Window” button allows the user to momentarily exit theDimensions Utility box 48 to maneuver to an area of the drawing. The“Zoom Extents” button zooms to the outer exterior of the drawing.Reconfiguring all the units enables the user to focus on just particularunits of interests and facilitates faster clean-up of the drawings.

“Mtext” button 50 and “Text” button 52 of the dialog box 10 effectivelyoperate together. The Mtext button 50 enables the user to convert Mtext(i.e., multi-line text) to a standard text line. For example, amulti-line, Unicode-based text can be gripped and exploded, whilemaintaining all properties except the Unicode format by removing theUnicode and placing the text into a single line text, which is easier toprocess in Text Utility dialog box 54 of FIG. 7. Converting multi-linetext in this fashion has the added benefit of allowing certainembodiments of the invention to “read” the text so as to retrieve 3Delement information for automated 2D to 3D conversion, as furtherdescribed below.

When the Text button 52 of the dialog box 10 is selected, dialog box 54of FIG. 7 is opened, and the user is presented with a number of options.The Delete Duplicate Text button deletes text that has been written ontop of the same text. In certain embodiments, this function operates inthe same manner as the Remove Duplicate Lines button previouslydiscussed (i.e., searching for text objects with the same properties,such as string, text style, and insertion point).

When the Delete Text button is selected, another dialog box is openedthat lists all the unique text lines in the drawing. One or more ofthese text lines can then be selected to delete the selected items. Thisdialog box also includes an auto-zoom feature that allows the user tozoom to the point in the drawing where the text appears so the user canmake a determination as to whether the selected text should be deletedor left alone. The Change Text button allows the user to alter aselected string of text, and selection of the Delete Like Text buttonprompts the user to select a single text object and have the drawingsearched for any identical text. In certain embodiments, when identicaltext is found, the user is presented with a “Yes” and “No” dialog todetermine if the identical text should be deleted or left alone.

Activation of the “Text Style” button 56 of the dialog box 10 displaysall the defined text styles that are used in the drawing, as well as oneor more additional text styles that were not utilized in the drawing,and gives the user the option of selecting one of these text styles.When a text style is selected, the user is then given the option ofconverting some or all the text styles in the drawing to the selectedtext style.

The four layers buttons, “Lyrs On” button 58, “Lyrs Off” button 60,“Lyrs Froze” button 62 and “Lyrs Locked” button 64, display to the userhow many layers exist in a drawing and the state of each layer.Selecting the Lyrs Off button 60, the Lyrs Froze button 62 or the LyrsLocked button 64 causes the layers associated with the selected buttonto reverse their state. For example, selecting the Lyrs Froze button 62can cause any layer that is currently frozen in the drawing to beunfrozen.

In certain embodiments, selection of the Lyrs On button 58 opens LayerUtility dialog box 66 of FIG. 8, which displays all the layers in thecurrent drawing in “Current Drawing Layers” (CDL) pane 68 and providesthe user with a number of useful functions. The two selectable optionsunder the CDL pane 68 are “Xref Filter” and “Color By Element.” TheX-ref filter option causes any layers that are referenced by the prefixof an X-ref to be masked. For example, the X-ref named “ELEVATOR 01-20WALLS” would be masked, so that the layer entitled “ELEVATOR 01-20WALLSIA-CLNG-HEAD” is listed as “A-CLNG-HEAD.” By masking the X-ref, itis possible to treat all the layers with the same name, such as“A-CLNG-HEAD,” in the same manner. Thus, an operation performed on“A-CLNG-HEAD” would also be performed on any other layers of the samename, irrespective of their different X-refs.

The “Color By Element” option maintains a color by the object flag ofthat object. In certain embodiments, when these objects are thenimported into another program, such as AUTOSPRINK, the default settingof that object is Color By Element. The “Pick Layers” button returns theuser to the drawing editor and prompts the user to select objects. Asobjects are selected, the objects are saved to a unique list. When theuser returns to the Layer Utility dialog box 66, the layers that are inthe list are highlighted and the user is given the option of using theremaining buttons of the utility to reach a desired result. The “SendSelected To” button is operative where there are multiple selections inthe CDL pane 68 and only a single selection in the AP Target Layers (AP)pane 70. Selection of this button sends any selected layers in the CDLpane 68 to the targeted layer in the AP pane 70. Any remaining emptylayers are then purged from the drawing and removed from the CDL pane68.

The “Delete Selected” button deletes objects in the layers selectedwithin the CDL pane 68. The “Isolate Selected” button is configured toturn off all layers except for the selected layers in the CDL pane 68.The “Step Through” button allows a user to begin at a selected layer inthe CDL pane 68 and to turn off all other layers. Subsequent selectionof the Step Through button steps the user to the next layer in the CDLpane 68 and turns off all other layers. The “Turn All Lyrs On” buttonturns on all the layers remaining in the CDL pane 68.

When work is completed with the four layers buttons, the clean-upprocess is completed. In certain embodiments, a wizard function can beexecuted during the clean-up process such that one or more of thefunctions or steps taken by the user to modify the drawing are recordedfor future reference or use in cleaning up additional related drawings.

To better understand embodiments of an example wizard function,reference is now made to FIGS. 1, 9 and 10. The illustrated Wizardsmodule section 70 of the dialog box 10 comprises of five components,option list 72 and four function buttons. The option list 72 includes alisting of all the wizards that are available for use with the currentdrawing. Once a wizard has been selected from the list 72, that wizardis then displayed within the window of the list while the user iscleaning-up the current drawing.

In certain embodiments, to create a wizard from scratch for the currentdrawing, the user selects “Create Wizard Profile” button 74. When button74 is selected, the user is directed to another dialog box prompting theuser to enter a wizard name. Once a name has been selected or entered,the user is directed to another dialog box that prompts the user toselect or enter the name of the source of the drawing(s) (e.g.,typically an architectural/engineering firm or an individual). Incertain embodiments, this dialog box can also include a list of previoussources of drawings used for other clean-up processes to make the taskof selecting a source easier. Once the source of the current drawing hasbeen established, the wizard is saved and added to the option list 72.

Source information for drawings is important when using “Build WizardProfile” button 76, which gives the users the option of searching otherwizards, based on their source, and importing instructions from otherwizards into the current wizard being designed. For example, when button76 of the dialog box 10 is selected, the user is directed to the WizardBuilder dialog box 78 (FIG. 9), which prompts the user to select adrawing origin from a list of available sources, based on previouslycreated wizards, in Origin pane 80.

When an origin is selected, the user can then select the Search SelectedProfile button to obtain a listing in Results pane 82 of availableinstructions previously created related to that source. The instructionsare shown to enable the user to determine if the selected sourceincludes the types of instructions they want to use to build a newwizard. If the selected source includes the desired instructions,clicking on the “Append Compilation To Current Profile” button acceptsthe instructions and appends them to the wizard profile being created.This same process can be repeated with one or more other sources so thata number of different instructions can be appended to the wizard beingbuilt. Once the wizard is built and stored, it can be added to optionlist 72 of the dialog box 10.

In certain embodiments, to run a wizard profile, the user selects awizard from those listed in options list 72 and clicks on “Run WizardProfile” button 84. A wizard profile dialog box then appears giving theuser the choice of running all the tasks listed in the main dialog box10 of FIG. 1 or to select certain of those tasks.

The process of running a wizard profile is further illustrated withrespect to the process flow diagram of FIG. 10A. For instance, when theWIZARD 86 is initiated, the DRAWING FILE 88 is accessed and opened. Asthe user performs different functions or steps to modify the selecteddrawing, the wizard records each of these steps in a log or other likedata structure in memory. In certain embodiments, the manner in whichthe wizard records and prioritizes recorded functions aids in thesubsequent thorough cleaning of revised or other drawings.

As the user is required to address X-refs first, the wizard doeslikewise with XREF 90. In certain embodiments, there are three optionsfor the resolution of X-refs: detach (or delete), insert and bind.Moreover, in certain embodiments, the logic assigned to these functions(e.g., when controlled by the AUTOCAD variable “BINDTYPE”) is “−1” fordetach 92, “0” for bind 94, and “1” for insert 96. As discussed above,binding an X-ref is different from inserting in that it creates thelayer contained in the X-ref with a prefix in the following format:XREFNAME0$0LAYERNAME. Utilization of binding, however, can createhundreds of layers, which can have undesirable results when subsequentlyusing the Layer utility, although use of the X-ref filter optiondescribed above can mitigate such problems. The logic assignments andany layer names that are created would then be recorded to the wizard.

BLOCK 98 includes similar options as the X-ref options that are recordedwith the block name and the action taken, such as delete or explode. Incertain embodiments, AEC blocks can be treated the same as blocks,although their additional geometry would also be stored. Customer blockscan also be treated the same as AEC blocks. HATCH 100 stores the patternand the points and details on, for example, if the hatch was erased orsaved. When future drawings are scanned by the wizard, the wizard gripsa hatch and searches the profile for the exact same pattern and points.The hatch is then resolved based on what happened in the first drawingclean-up and whether the hatch was erased or saved. In certainembodiments, line, polyline, arc and circle functions are not recordedby the wizard. Rather, these functions are handled by the main dialogbox 10 during the normal clean-up process.

DIMENSION 102 is processed so as to disassemble it from the block withinwhich it is contained. For instance, any Unicode formatting can beremoved from the text and the line and arrows are divided into twoentities. While dimensions can be processed as a whole group, otherembodiments of the invention enable the user to select and alterindividual dimensions. In certain embodiments, Mtext functions are notrecorded by the wizard and are handled in the same manner as in the maindialog box 10 of FIG. 1.

With continued reference to FIG. 10A, TEXT 104 functions, such as stringdeletions and/or changes, are recorded into the wizard. TEXT STYLE 106functions are recorded, as are LAYER 108 functions (e.g., merging alayer or deleting a layer). As can be seen, the wizard functionsubstantially reduces the amount of effort and time required to clean-updrawings that are from the same source or that are similar to apreviously cleaned-up drawing.

General contractors typically receive from architects large numbers ofdrawing files for a project, with the total amount of drawings oftennumbering in the thousands. These drawing files can comprise, forinstance, parent or host drawings, drawings that are referenced by theparent drawings (e.g., X-refs) and stand-alone drawings that are notassociated with other drawings. However, the associations between parentdrawings and referenced drawings are often not maintained or readilyapparent. For instance, oftentimes one or more architects can transfermultiple sets of drawings to the general contractor, such as through aportable storage medium (e.g., disk) or over a network (e.g., theInternet) or other communications link, without maintaining and/orproviding any indication of associations between the drawings. Thisproblem becomes especially apparent when using several X-refs in thedesign process.

For instance, as mentioned above, the use of X-refs provides designerswith the leverage to modularize drawings. Thus, a main architect canmanage the work and design of the overall layout of a building, whileincorporating X-refs of lower-level components (e.g., doors, walls,arches or even a simple textured tile) that are delegated to a secondarchitect or other designer. As each X-ref is modified, the mainarchitect is able to see the changes reflected on the main drawing.

A further advantage of an X-ref is that it reduces the overall file sizeof the drawing. For instance, a parent or host drawing with an X-refsaves the references only to the external files rather than the entireinformation of the external files. Thus, instead of storing all thegeometry data associated with the referenced files, only the name ofand/or pathway to the linked file (e.g., C:\drawings\bridge\beam.dwg) isstored in the current drawing. Also, because X-refs are linked to otherdrawings, whenever the parent drawing is opened, the parent drawing canreflect the latest changes of the linked files.

For example, if a group of designers is working on a new car design, oneof the designers can work on the main body of the car, while a seconddesigner works on the wheels of the car, and so forth. In this case, themain drawing can be the entire car, with multiple X-refs to the wheeldrawings and/or other parts of the car. Thus, designers can make as manychanges as desired to the wheel drawings and/or other parts, andwhenever the main car drawing is opened, the latest version of the wheeldesign and other parts are rendered on the main car drawing. Moreover,X-refs also provide the advantage of being reusable as a basic designunit. With respect to the automotive design example, a user may be ableto design an automobile by using X-refs having pre-existing drawings ofindividual car components.

In another example, a host drawing depicting the front façade of abuilding can include a set of windows and a door, which can beincorporated into the host drawing via X-refs. The door may furtherinclude a top part, a bottom part, and a handle. Each of thesecomponents may, in turn, be represented by drawings incorporated viaX-refs into the door drawing. Moreover, the handle itself may comprisean ornate shape that includes individual components represented bydrawings incorporated via X-refs into the handle drawing.

Thus, when the parent drawing is opened, each of the X-refs is includedin the parent drawing. In the process of rendering each of thefirst-level X-refs, each X-ref drawing itself is checked for additionallower-level X-refs, which can also be included in the drawing. Thisrecursive process allows for the rendering of nested X-refs, therebyallowing for the modularization of the drawing. For example, in theevent that the ornate handle is changed, such a change would bereflected automatically when any drawing that references the ornatehandle via X-refs is opened.

One of the disadvantages of X-refs, however, is that they are generallyassociated with the main, parent and/or “host” drawing through filepaths. Thus, problems can arise when a user moves the drawing to adifferent path (e.g., another file folder) without updating thereferenced path in the host drawing and/or transfers a set of drawingswithout maintaining a similar file structure. In addition, in certaincircumstances, X-refs can be shared between multiple host drawings. As aresult, if the X-ref is moved, each of the referenced paths in the hostdrawings would need to be updated. Moreover, since X-refs can bereferenced by many different drawings, there are generally no externaltags, information or metadata of a particular X-ref that associates theX-ref with a particular drawing.

These disadvantages often require the general contractor who receives aset of drawings from various sources to first visually review thedrawings to try to identify which represent host (parent) drawings andwhich are X-refs, and then to update referenced paths and/or organizethe drawings so that they are stored in the locations that correspond tothe defined paths of the X-refs. This task can be further complicated bythe inclusion of nested X-ref drawings, or drawings that are furtherreferenced by another drawing related to the host drawing.

As can be readily appreciated, such a task of distinguishing betweenhost drawings, X-refs and/or stand-alone drawings can be very timeconsuming and labor intensive because the general contractor has littleway of discerning one type of drawing from another by, for example,names or other metadata associated with the drawings. Rather, eachdrawing is opened and reviewed visually to make a determination as toits type, and then is sorted accordingly. To further exacerbate thisprocess, each X-ref generally has to be opened using the appropriateAUTOCAD application used to create the drawing, which further adds tothe already considerable expenditure of time and effort required.

To address the foregoing, certain embodiments of the invention providesystems and methods for automatically identifying host drawings and/orX-refs from a plurality of drawings. For example, FIG. 10B illustrates asystem 120 for automatically classifying and managing drawings in a CADenvironment. In general, the system 120 is configured to receive one ormore sets of drawings, such as through a network or other communicationmedium, and classify the drawings as hosts, X-refs or the like, withoutprior knowledge of the type of drawing. In certain further embodiments,the system 120 can advantageously identify which CAD program and/orversion was used to create each drawing.

As shown, the system 120 comprises a first computing device 122 and asecond computing device 124 that communicate with each other over anetwork 126. In certain embodiments, the first and second computingdevices 122, 124 can comprise any computing device capable of processingdata and include, for example, a server computer, a workstation, apersonal computer, a cell phone, a portable computing device, a handheldcomputing device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) or the like.

The illustrated network 126 advantageously comprises any means forcommunicating data between two or more systems or components. It certainembodiments, the network 126 comprises a computer network. For example,the network 126 may comprise a public network such as the Internet, avirtual private network (VPN), a token ring or TCP/IP based network, awide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), an intranetnetwork, a point-to-point link, a wireless network, a cellular network,a wireless data transmission system, a two-way cable system, aninteractive kiosk network, a satellite network, a broadband network, abaseband network, combinations of the same or the like. In embodimentswherein the first and second computing devices 122, 124 are part of thesame computing system, the network 126 may represent a communicationssocket or other suitable internal data transfer path or mechanism.

In yet other embodiments, data can be transferred between the first andsecond computing devices 122, 124 via a portable storage medium, such asa compact disk (CD) or the like. In yet other embodiments, the system120 can have a single computing device, such as a central server, thatis accessible by multiple parties participating in the generation and/orrevisions of a set of CAD drawings.

As shown, the second computing device 124 further comprises a hostmanager module 128. In certain embodiments, the host manager module 128is configured to automatically categorize members of a collection of CADdrawings as host drawings, stand-alone drawings and/or X-refs. Forinstance, with respect to system 120, the first computing device 122 cancomprise an original set of CAD drawings 130 generated and/or revised bya user, such as an architect or other designer, and that are sent to thesecond computing device 124. In order to maintain a clean set of thedrawings 130, the host manager module 128 can create a duplicate set ofthe drawings (i.e., copied drawings 132) for further processing.

In order to automatically sort each of the copied drawings 132 withouthaving preexisting knowledge as to the types of the drawings (e.g.,host, X-ref), the host manager module 128 maintains a list or otherrecord of all the drawings that do not include one or more X-refs in afirst database 134 and a list or other record of all the X-refsreferenced by the drawings 132 in a second database 136. It will beappreciated that the first and second databases 134, 136 can compriseany data structure and/or device capable of storing data, such as in alist, table, flat file or other format. Thus, while the first and seconddatabases 134, 136 are shown for exemplary purposes as being separatecomponents, in other embodiments of the invention, these databases canbe combined in a single database or other data structure.

Upon categorizing each of the copied drawings 132, such as described inmore detail with respect to FIGS. 10C and 10D, the host manager module128 can store each drawing in a respective folder, location and/ordatabase, as illustrated by host drawings 138, stand-alone drawings 140and X-refs 142. Moreover, for those X-refs that are corrupted and/orhave broken links, the host manager module 128 can further create one ormore dummy or proxy drawings 144 to use in place of the particularX-refs to prevent system and/or application crashes, as discussed inmore detail below.

FIGS. 10C and 10D illustrate a flowchart of a process 150 forautomatically identifying host drawings, stand-alone drawings (i.e.,host drawings without X-references) and X-refs from a set of drawings.In certain embodiments, the process 150 is configured to identify andclassify such drawings without prior knowledge or externalidentification of the type of drawings received and/or the associationstherebetween. For exemplary purposes, the process 150 will be describedwith reference to the components of the system 120 of FIG. 10B.

As illustrated, the process 150 begins at Block 152 by receiving a setof drawings. In certain embodiments, the host manager module 128 of thesecond computing device 124 receives the drawings 130 as modified and/orprepared on the first computing device 122. In certain embodiments, thedrawings 130 are transmitted over the network 126 (e.g., via filetransfer protocol (FTP)), are transferred via a CD or other storagemedium, or the like. For instance, in certain embodiments, the drawings130 can represent a set of CAD drawings being sent from an architect forfurther review by a general contractor.

At Block 154, the host manager module 128 identifies corrupt files fromthe set of drawings. For instance, in certain embodiments, the hostmanager module 128 tries to open each of the drawings. If the module 128is successful in opening the drawing, the drawing is considered to beusable. However, if the module 128 is not able to successfully open thedrawing, the drawing is classified as a corrupt file.

At Block 156, the host manager module 128 creates of copy 132 of the setof drawings 130. This advantageously allows the system 120 to processthe copy of drawings without affecting the original set of drawings inthe event that the system needs to re-access a clean set of the drawings130. Of course, in other embodiments of the invention, the process 150can be performed on the original set of drawings 130 sent from the firstcomputing device 122.

At Block 158, the host manager module 128 opens a first one of thecopied drawings 132 and determines if the drawing has any associatedX-refs (Block 160). For instance, in certain embodiments, the hostmanager module 128 accesses a reference table (e.g., DWG referencetable) within the current drawing that identifies the other drawingsthat are associated with or to be linked to the current drawing (e.g.,X-refs).

If the current' drawing does not include one or more X-refs associatedtherewith, an identification of the current drawing (e.g., name and/orpath of the current drawing) is stored in the first database 134 (Block162). On the other hand, if the current drawing is associated with oneor more X-refs, the X-refs are identified in the second database 136,such as in a list or other data structure (Block 164). In certainembodiments, if the X-refs are already identified in the seconddatabase, the process 150 does not require that an identification of theX-ref be stored again.

Following Blocks 162 or 164, the host manager module 128 determines ifthere are additional drawings to be analyzed in the drawings 132 (Block166). If so, the host manager module 128 moves to a next one in the setof drawings 132 (Block 168) and returns to Block 158. If all thedrawings 132 have been reviewed, the process 150 continues with Block170 to access and traverse a master list of the drawings 132.

At Block 172, the host manager module 128 determines if a currentdrawing identified in the master list is also listed in the seconddatabase 136. If so, the host manager module 128 identifies the currentdrawing as an X-ref and stores the current drawing in the X-ref database142 (Block 174). If the current drawing is not in identified in thesecond database 136, the host manager module 128 determines if thecurrent drawing is identified in the first database 134 (Block 176). Ifthe current drawing is identified in the first database 134, the drawingis identified as a stand-alone drawing (e.g., a drawing that does notreference and is not referenced by any external drawings) and is storedin the stand-alone drawing database 140 (Block 178). If the currentdrawing is not listed in either the first or second databases 134, 136,the drawing is identified as a host drawing (e.g., a drawing thatreferences, but is not referenced by, one or more external drawings) andis stored in the host drawing database 138 (Block 180).

Following Blocks 174, 178 or 180, the process 150 continues with Block182 to determine if there are additional drawings 132 that need to becategorized. If so, the host manager module 128 moves to the nextdrawing (Block 184) and returns to Block 172. If all the drawings havebeen categorized, the process 150 continues with Block 186 to determineif any X-refs listed in the second database 136 are not contained in thedrawings 132 (e.g., if there are broken references). If not, the process150 outputs the final drawing information to the user, such as via acomputer display or like interface (Block 188).

If there are broken references, the process at Block 190 creates dummydrawings 144 for each of such references. For example, a brokenreference can arise when a user does not transfer a full set of drawingsto the second computing device 124. Such may occur when certain X-refshave not been modified during the design process and the user deems itunnecessary to transfer the unchanged X-refs. In certain embodiments,each dummy drawing comprises a blank CAD drawing (or proxy drawing) thatis assigned the same pathname as the broken reference. In yet furtherembodiments, when coming across a broken reference, the host managermodule 128 can automatically search a defined number of higher-leveland/or sister folders and/or a designated folder within the file systemto search for a copy of the particular drawing prior to creating and/orassigning a dummy drawing.

FIG. 10E shows an example screen display of a main interface dialog box200 for the Host Drawing Manager utility. In certain embodiments, thedialog box 200 can be used to initiate one or more functions describedin the process 150 of FIGS. 10C and 10D. For instance, the dialog box200 includes user-selectable buttons for performing desired functionsand panels that enable a user to select desired files for additionalprocesses. For example, the two browse buttons under the “Drawing FileSource Location” group allow the user to select a folder location to besearched for host drawing files and to select a folder location to besearched for X-ref files.

The “Process Options” group of the Host Manager utility allows the userto control operations on files during and after the search processes.The “Copy Files” checkbox is selected in order to have sort and reviewprocess conducted with copies of the original files rather than with theoriginal files (see, e.g., Block 156 of process 150). For example, theuser may choose to bind all X-refs to the corresponding host referencesafter the search and classification processes are completed. Byprocessing copies, instead of the originals, the system allows the userto revert to the original drawings if an error is encountered ordiscovered during processing of the drawing files.

The “Process Files” checkbox results in execution of the processingoperation immediately after the search process completes. This allowsfor the search and processing to run unattended, which may be anextended period of time when handling a large number of files or withfiles with large sizes. The user also has the option to bind X-refs tothe host (i.e., via “Bind Xrefs to Host” checkbox), and to additionallybind nested X-refs (e.g., via “Bind Xrefs to Xrefs” checkbox). Incertain embodiments, binding nested X-refs recursively binds X-refs toX-refs, starting at the deepest level of nesting. For example, ifDrawing A has a reference to Drawing B, and Drawing B has a reference toDrawing C, then the drawing C is first bound to Drawing B, and Drawing Bis then bound to Drawing A.

The left browse button under the “Copy Files and Process In” headingenables the user to select a folder location where files are copied toand processed. The right browse button allows the user to specify afolder for the host files. Alternatively, the user may be allowed toretain the structure of the original files. For example, the user mayhave received all the files in a single folder. By choosing to retainthe structure of the original files, a directory structure can be builtusing the paths in the X-refs.

For example, a drawing may include two X-refs, each having the path:“Building1\V\”. During reconstruction, an embodiment of the inventioncan create a subfolder called Building1, followed by creating asubfolder V1 inside the Building1 subfolder. Once this directorystructure is created, the two X-refs could then be copied to the V1subfolder. Such reconstruction would allow a second user to receivedisorganized files from a first user and automatically be able toreconstruct the directory structure used by the first user in order tohave consistent file organization.

The “Begin Search” button allows the user to execute the selected“process” options. The results of the search process are displayed inthe “Host Drawings,” “No Association With Host or X-Ref,” and/or“External References” windows. The Host Drawings window shows the filesidentified as being probable host drawings (e.g., stored in database 138of FIG. 10B). The No Association With Host or X-Ref window shows thefiles identified as not being attached to a host or X-ref file (e.g.,stored in database 140). Immediately below these two windows are buttonsfor the user to manually open and/or move selected files to the list ofX-refs or to the list of host drawings. Files identified as being X-refsare displayed in the External References window. Buttons immediatelybelow this window, enable the user to open selected files and/or moveselected files to the host drawings list. Along the bottom of the HostManager utility box 200 are the Data Log button and the Crash Logbutton. Selecting these' buttons brings up the Master Drawing ManagementReports utility, which is further described hereinafter.

Although the Host Drawing Manager dialog box 200 has been described withreference to particular embodiments, it will be understood that thedialog box can function with more or fewer features than thoseillustrated in FIG. 10E. Rather, the dialog box 200 is described asmerely an example of a user interface means executable on or inconnection with the second computing device 124 and/or host managermodule 128 of FIG. 10B for receiving and/or displaying informationusable for performing particular processing functions, such as theprocess 150 of FIGS. 10C and 10D.

In certain embodiments, once a set of drawings is categorized, a usermay want to bind the drawings in order to send or save a single drawing,as opposed to multiple drawings, to a third party. For instance, asdiscussed above, a user can bind X-refs to a host drawing to create asingle file representing a complete drawing.

This binding process, however, especially when dealing with hundreds ofhost references and X-refs, can take a substantial amount of time.Moreover, with conventional systems, if a broken, corrupt or missingX-ref or other error is encountered during the binding process, theentire process aborts, leaving the user to attempt to locate the causeof the crash and to restart the binding process.

Moreover, in certain circumstances, the binding process can be part of amuch larger routine, or process such as the batch comparing of hundredsof drawings, the cleaning-up of drawings, or the like, examples of whichare discussed in more detail herein. For instance, because of the timeand resources required to execute the batch comparisons, it can beadvantageous to run the comparison(s) overnight or during anotherdowntime of the computer network. In such situations, however, a smallerror encountered while binding X-refs has the potential to shut downthe entire batch comparison process and again leave the user to identifythe error (e.g., a corrupt X-ref) and restart the entire process.

In view of the foregoing, systems and methods disclosed hereinadvantageously execute a crash log process that automatically identifiesthe causes of errors during one or more routines, such as while bindingX-refs to a host drawing, batch comparing multiple drawings, cleaning updrawings, combinations of the same or the like or the like. Moreover,embodiments of the inventive crash log process and system can furtherdynamically replace corrupt drawings with dummy drawings so that thedesired process can continue to completion without substantialinterruption.

FIG. 10F illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a flowchart of a crashlog process 210 according to certain embodiments of the invention. Forexemplary purposes, the process 210 is described herein with referenceto components of a crash log system 420 of FIG. 10K. Although each ofthe process 210 and the system 420 is described with reference to abinding routine, it will be understood that the crash log process 210can be used in a variety of processes to identify and address unforeseenevents and problems that can cause a CAD session to crash or suspendactivity.

For example, the crash log system 420 of FIG. 10K comprises a pluralityof components that can execute and/or be stored on one or more computingdevices, such as a server or the like. As shown, the crash log system420 comprises a first CAD session or instance 422 and a second CADsession or instance 424 that are used, in certain embodiments, to bindone or more X-refs 426 to one or more host drawings 428. In certainembodiments, the system 420 is further able to generate and/or bind oneor more dummy drawings 430 in place of broken or corrupt references. Asis also illustrated, the crash log system 420 includes a configurationfile 432 and a crash log 434, each of which is described in more detailbelow with reference to the process 210 of FIG. 10F.

With respect to FIG. 10F, the process 210 begins with Block 212, whereinthe first CAD session 422 is opened. In certain preferred embodiments,the first CAD session 422 advantageously comprises a blank session withno open drawing. In further embodiments, if more than one CAD session iscurrently open, the process 210 prompts the user to close all but oneCAD session.

At Block 214, the first CAD session 422 writes the session or processidentification (“ID”) to the configuration file 432. In certainembodiments, the process ID is captured from a list of all processesthen executing on the particular computing device. For instance, incertain embodiments, the DOS command “TASKLIST” is used to return a listof all running processes, from which the process ID of the CAD sessionis obtained. The name of the host drawing 428 to be processed (e.g.,bound to X-refs 426) is also written to the configuration file 432. Forinstance, in certain embodiments, the first CAD session 422 writes a“runstart” command to the configuration file 432 along with the name ofthe host drawing 428, which directs, in turn, the second CAD session 424to open the host drawing 428 (Block 216). In certain embodiments, theconfiguration file 432 comprises a text file (e.g., an .ini file), anXML file, a YAML file, a database, or other like data structure.

At Block 220, the process 210 writes the session ID of the second CADsession 424 to the configuration file 432. At this point, the process210 begins individually binding the X-refs 426 to the current hostdrawing 428. For instance, the second CAD session 424 can move seriallythrough the X-refs listed in the host drawing's 428 external referencetable to bind each of the X-refs to the host drawing. At Block 222, theprocess 210 writes the name of the individual X-ref 426 to be processed,and/or its pathname location, to the configuration file 432. The secondCAD session 424 then processes the X-ref 426 to bind the X-ref to thehost drawing 428.

If the second CAD session 424 encounters an error (Block 224) duringthis process, the error is handled at Block 226. In certain embodiments,the first CAD session 422 monitors the activity of the second CADsession 424 to identify any errors in the binding process. For instance,the first CAD session 422 can monitor the second CAD session 424 for anypause, suspension or interruption in activity longer than apredetermined time (e.g., no activity for at least ten seconds). If suchoccurs, the first CAD session 422 can assume that a crash or other erroroccurred with the binding process of the second CAD session 424.

In yet further embodiments, the first CAD session 422 can determine ifparticular windows or alerts are generated by the second CAD session 424during the binding process. For instance, the first CAD session 422 canidentify if certain .dll files or the like are called during the bindingprocess. If such occurs, it can be assumed that activity by the secondCAD session 424 has been interrupted while a window, dialog box or thelike has been displayed to convey information to (e.g., an alert),and/or request information from, a user. In this circumstance, if thealert or request for information is not addressed, such as when theprogram is being executed overnight, execution of the entire program canbe paused until a user returns to restart the process.

In yet other embodiments, if the encountered error is caused fromoutside the CAD environment, then a “send dump” command (e.g., SENDMP inWINDOWS) can be detected and the second CAD session 424 can be shutdown. Alternatively, a daemon or some equivalent background process cancontinuously examine the list of active processes in place of monitoringby the first CAD session 422 in order to detect crashes by the secondCAD session 424.

In processing an error at Block 226, the first CAD session 422 canaccess the configuration file 432 for the name of the current X-ref 426and host drawing 428 that caused the crash. In certain embodiments, thisinformation is then written to the crash log 434 by the first CADsession 422. Following such identification, the process 210 can proceedwith Block 234 to close the second CAD session 424 (e.g., if not alreadyclosed). In certain further embodiments, the process 210 can proceed toreopen another CAD session that commences the binding process where theterminated second CAD session 424 left off (e.g., with binding the nextX-ref based on information in the configuration file 432 and/or thecrash log 434).

If there is no error encountered with the binding process at Block 224(e.g., the X-ref 426 is successfully bound to the host drawing 428), theprocess 210 clears the configuration file 432 of the X-ref name at Block228. In certain embodiments, the process 210 also clears theconfiguration file 432 of the host drawing name and/or the ID of thesecond CAD session 424.

At Block 230, the process 210 determines if there are additional X-refs426 to be bound to the host drawing 428. If so, the process 210 moves tothe next X-ref 426 and returns to Block 220. If all the appropriateX-refs 426 have been bound to the host drawing 428, the process 210continues with Block 234 to close the second CAD session 424. In furtherembodiments, relevant portions of the process 210 could be repeated foreach host drawing 428 that needs to be bound (e.g., determined from anarray or other list of all host drawings 428). For instance, the firstCAD session 422 could initiate one or more new CAD sessions to furtherprocess the additional host drawings 428 and their respective X-refs426.

Although the process 210 has been described with reference to particulararrangements, other embodiments of the invention can perform more orfewer acts than those described with reference to FIG. 10F. For example,in certain embodiments, when encountering an error (e.g., a brokenX-ref) at Block 224, the process 210 can create and/or bind one of thedummy drawings 430 (e.g., a proxy drawing) in place of the referencedX-ref. In such embodiments, the dummy drawing 430 can be assigned thename of, and/or replace, the broken or corrupt X-ref so that second CADsession 424 can continue binding other X-refs 426 to the current hostdrawing 428 without terminating prematurely. Thus, following Block 226,the process 210 could write the name of the broken X-ref 426 to thecrash log 434 and continue with Block 228, thereafter moving to the nextX-ref 426 to be bound.

Moreover, it will also be understood from the disclosure herein that theprocess 210 can also be executed when binding X-refs to other (parent)X-refs. Furthermore, the process 210 can be performed on a singlecomputing system having multi-threading capabilities or on multiplecomputers coupled through a network.

FIGS. 10G through 10I illustrate exemplary screen displays of anembodiment of a Master Drawing Management Reports dialog box 242. Incertain embodiments, this dialog box 242 can be accessed by selectingeither the Data Logs button or the Crash Logs button from the HostManager Utility box 200. In particular, FIG. 10G shows a top portion 244of the Master Drawing Management Reports dialog box 242, which provideswindows and buttons for viewing, deleting and printing from the datalog, or configuration file, and the crash log. FIG. 10H illustrates amiddle portion 246 of the dialog box 410, which provides windows wheredata log and crash log reports can be compared. Along the left side ofthe viewing windows for the data log, crash log, compare utility reportfiles and compare utility crash reports logs, are buttons that can beselected to open, delete or print selected files in each window.

FIG. 10I illustrates a bottom portion 248 of the dialog box 242. Forinstance, if the user chooses to save drawings to a DWF or PDF fileformat rather than to a plotter, the “DWF Viewer” button and the “PDFViewer” button allow the user to select a third-party DWF or PDF viewerto view the files. For example, selecting the PDF Viewer button maybring up a dialog box listing all available programs in the user'scomputer. The user may then scroll through the listed programs to selectthe corresponding PDF program, such as ADOBE PDF, XPDF, or the like.

Returning to FIG. 10E along the bottom portion of the dialog box 200 isan Options button, which brings up a Host Manager utility options dialogbox, an example of which is shown as dialog box 350 in FIG. 10J. Forinstance, the illustrated dialog box 350 comprises a plurality of inputsfor prompting the user to manually identify and/or classify a particularX-ref. Through the use of a checkbox, for example, a user can select tohave the source files copied to another location, such as a drive or adirectory, prior a search and/or classification process (e.g., theprocess 150).

As shown, checkbox 352 sets the option for using the most recent versionof an X-ref used in the in the process. Checkbox 354 from the optionsdialog pauses the program every time two X-refs with the same name areencountered, such as when more than one version of an X-ref file existson the system. In certain embodiments, a user prompt displays all theX-ref files with the same name, from which the user can select thedesired X-ref and click the “OK” button. For example, a user may beinformed that the latest version of an X-ref is corrupted. In this case,the user can manually select to use the previous version of the X-refwhen processing the X-refs.

Checkbox 356 sets the option for the system to create a blank X-ref(e.g., a proxy or dummy drawing) for each missing X-ref that is reportedand/or to associate the blank X-ref with the missing X-ref. Checkbox 358sets the option to have all blank X-ref(s) placed in the host directory.Checkbox 360 sets the option to have all blank X-ref(s) placed in asub-folder under the Host directory. As shown, the illustrated dialogbox 350 further includes a window that provides the user with a textinput window to assign a name to a sub-folder for storing blank X-refs.

Once a drawing has been categorized and properly associated with otherdrawings and/or has been cleaned up, it is often desirable to comparethat drawing to prior versions of the same drawing to view what has beenchanged from one revision or delta to another. While drawings that havenot been cleaned up can also be compared to prior drawings, unnecessaryinformation cluttering an unclean drawing can make it difficult for auser to visually discern where changes have or have not been made. Thus,certain embodiments of the invention can provide a compare utility thatgreatly simplifies the process of understanding and working withrevisions, identifying where changes have occurred, and highlightingthose revisions by colorization in a highly efficient and user friendlymanner.

Naturally, the compare feature of certain embodiments of the inventionis also capable of comparing any two drawings, even where one is not arevision of the other. When the system detects that two drawings to becompared are not similar, it can alert the user and/or prompt the userfor confirmation to move forward with the compare process. As notedbelow with respect to FIGS. 12A and 13A, the Batch Load compare featureof certain embodiments of the invention can be useful when comparing alarge number of both similar and dissimilar drawings. For example, whena user is attempting to determine the degree of commonality between thedrawings of different floors of a multistory building, the ability tobatch compare a large number of drawings, including those which aredissimilar, can be very advantageous. In this manner, the one or twodissimilar floors out of 30 or 40 similar floors can be picked outrelatively quickly.

In certain embodiments, the compare utility allows the user to view anychanges that have or have not been made from one version of a CADdrawing to another. Any revisions that have or have not been made can bereadily viewed to determine what the modifications are and whether thosemodifications, or lack thereof, are relevant to the user's work on thecurrent drawing. The disclosed compare utility can also contain apreview feature that allows the user to view all changes to the drawingprior to accepting or importing the drawing into other CAD formats.

In certain embodiments, the compare utility also has the ability to zoomin on a filtered set of drawing elements/objects and the ability tocontinue to drill down into the drawing to the simplest drawingcomponent of each individual component group or object. This allows theuser to automatically zoom in and view a first selected group ofcomponents, and then zoom in and view a smaller section or componentswithin that first selected group, and then zoom in again and view aneven smaller set of components, and so forth. At any time during thisprocess, the user can select components and capture information aboutthose components to include those components and information in a billof materials, scheduling program, etc. This feature is of particularimportance in BIM projects.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 11A, a compare zoom dialog box 480can be used for zooming in on particular objects in a revised drawing,such as newly added walls. In certain embodiments, this is performed byselecting the desired object from a list of available objects. Thesystem can then zoom on any of the selected objects that were added to arevised drawing. In certain further embodiments, the newly added objectscan be further distinguished, such as being illustrated in a differentcolor (or highlighted in some other way), from the unchanged objects inthe revised drawing.

The compare zoom feature can also take into account BIM or other data inthe revised drawing. For instance, in order to prepare pricinginformation for the added walls, or to revise scheduling to accommodatethe added walls, the system can capture information related to all thechanges involved in adding the walls, including all parts that mighthave been included within the walls, such as the wood or metal studs andslats, the sheetrock, the attachment screws, the door frames, the doorsand all door components, including hinges, door knobs, or the like.

Once the information on the changes has been collected, a bill ofmaterials can be automatically generated and sent to the appropriateprogram or system for processing. Likewise, if the user comparing thedrawings happens to be the hardware manufacturer for the door systems,the user can continue to drill down with the zoom command to justcapture the door hardware for all the added doors in the revised drawingand nothing else.

Certain inventive systems and methods disclosed herein can furtherenable a user to select an entity and drill down to an attribute layerhaving data comprising, among other things, a detailed bill of materialsfor a particular member, or group of members of the drawing. Forexample, if a user selects a drawing member representing a door, theuser is able to zoom down through several layers to view the bill ofmaterials necessary to build the door and any other equivalent doorsand/or components (e.g., knobs, hinges, locks, etc.).

In another example, a user may select one or more attribute blockscorresponding to a drawing member or group of members, and then zoomdown through several layers each having relevant bill of materials forthe selected drawing member or group of members. In yet another example,the user may select an attribute block representing each room of a floorof a hotel or other building. A first layer may provide that each roomrequires a bathroom; a second layer may provide that each bathroomrequires a bathtub, a sink, and a toilet; and a third layer may providethat the bathtub should be of a certain manufacturer, model anddimensions, such an AMERICAN STANDARD model number X bathtub five feetlong and 30 inches wide.

FIG. 11B illustrates a screen display of a review utility dialog box 500that provides a user with access to the above-described BIM-zoomfeatures. In particular, the dialog box 500 comprises a plurality ofinputs (e.g., buttons, checkboxes) for receiving user instructionsregarding the review of BIM features.

As shown, BIM zoom buttons 502 enable the user to zoom to data regardingdeleted or added elements, when compared to a previous version of thedrawing. The “Export BIM” button 504 brings up a prompt and/or dialogbox for the user to provide a location for where to export BIM data andoptionally, a user selected format for the BIM data to be converted tofor export. For example, Export BIM button 504 may present severalMICROSOFT EXCEL formats for the user to choose from. The BIM datapertaining to the relevant changes can then be exported directly into anEXCEL spreadsheet of the desired formatting. A “Plot Button” 506 furtherenables the user to have BIM data sent to a plotter for printing.

An additional feature of the compare utility is its ability to determineand display changes in square footage based on changes between the olddrawing and the new drawing. As with other features, changes in squarefootage can be determined on the macro-level (e.g., the entire building)or on any of a number of selected lower levels (e.g., a particularfloor). For example, if the user only wanted to determine the change insquare footage on a level of a building, this could be determined bycomparing that level of the building from the old drawing to that levelof the building from the new drawing. Likewise, one room or set of roomscould be compared between the two drawings to determine square footagechanges between the old and new drawings. Altered square footage couldalso include the amount of square footage in the drawing that includesrevisions or changes and the total variance between the old and newdrawings. In certain embodiments, other variances are also identifiedand/or reported, such as X-refs attached to the old versus new drawings,X-refs inserted into the old versus new drawings, the status of variouslayers at the time the comparisons were completed (e.g., whether alllayers were included, whether frozen layers were included, whetherlocked layers were included, etc.).

To initiate the process, as illustrated in FIG. 12A, a Drawing CompareUtility dialog box 710 prompts the user to select the base drawing (suchas the original drawing or a prior revision drawing) and the currentlyrevised drawing. The user is also provided with options for customizingthe comparison process. The options can include, for example:

-   -   (1) “All Layers On,” which results in all layers being turned on        in each drawing (if unchecked, only layers that are turned on in        each drawing would be compared, with turned off layers being        ignored);    -   (2) “Thaw Layers,” which thaws any frozen layers so they can be        included in the comparison (otherwise frozen layers are        ignored); and    -   (3) “Un-Lock Layers,” which un-locks any locked layers, which        would otherwise be ignored.

FIG. 12B illustrates a dialog box 712 that enables the user to setadditional options for the Drawing Compare Utility, such as how X-refsare to be treated, selection of aspects of the drawings to be compared,configuration of the presentation of the compare results and creation ofnew layouts.

As previously noted, in addition to these drawing options, the dialogbox 710 contains a program option to “batch load” several drawings or acomplete set of both base and revision drawings to allow the user totoggle through numerous drawings or an entire set of revised drawingsone at a time. The ability to batch compare several drawings and havethe system automatically perform the operation (e.g., overnight) withoutfurther user input is a very useful feature, especially when used incombination with the crash log processes described herein.

As illustrated in FIG. 13A, a Batch Load dialog box 716 allows the userto place hundreds of drawings (e.g., up to 1024) in an old drawing filelist 718 and hundreds more in a revised drawing list 720, in any order,and the system will automatically find all the similar drawings tocompare to one another and perform the comparison functionsautomatically. If any drawing in the new drawing list is missing acorresponding revised drawing, or for any reason a drawing could not becompared, the system will provide an error message list.

As noted above, the batch compare process can be used to compare onedrawing to many different similar or dissimilar drawings. Morespecifically, the batch compare process can be used to compare eachdrawing in a set of drawings, such as a floor, building or otherstructure, to each corresponding drawing in a prior or subsequent set ofdrawings related to the same floor, building or other structure. Changesidentified from the comparison can be entered on an itemized list ofchanges and/or can be shown in the drawings through various forms ofhighlighting. It is also possible to compare each subpart of a drawingor group of drawings with corresponding subparts of other drawings orgroups of drawings. Moreover, certain filters can be further applied tocause only certain features within drawings that have changed to beoutput to the itemized list or only certain changes to be illustrated aschanged within the resulting compare drawing.

Moreover, clean-up and compare features can be advantageously combinedtogether, such that once all the drawings in a batch of drawings havebeen cleaned up, those drawings can be automatically compared to oneanother or other drawings selected by the user. When the comparison(s)are completed, a Plot, PDF or DXF format file, or any other type of filetype, of the compare drawing(s) can be generated to display and/orhighlight added objects, deleted objects, modified objects, combinationsof the same or the like, as previously discussed herein.

As referenced above, the batch compare or clean-up methods describedherein can advantageously continue comparing or cleaning up batches(sets) of drawings even after encountering a seemingly fatal error. Forinstance, FIG. 13B illustrates the bottom portion of a batch compareutility dialog box 729, as an example, that is similar to the batchcompare dialog box 716 illustrated in FIG. 13A, except that the dialogbox 729 includes an additional crash log utility option 730 that enablescontinuous comparisons even after an event occurs which would normallycrash a batch comparison process, as discussed above, for example withrespect to the process 210 of FIG. 10F.

In particular, if during the course of a batch comparison the systemencounters a problem that would cause the compare or clean-up process tocrash, such as encountering a problematic X-ref (i.e., an X-ref thatreferences itself or includes a reference to an X-ref that cannot befound) a broken X-ref, or a corrupt X-ref, the crash log utilityautomatically creates and saves to the appropriate drawing, file and/ordatabase being compared or cleaned-up a proxy reference (e.g., dummydrawing 430 of FIG. 10K) that is used in place of the problematic datastructure. For example, for a recursive X-ref, the crash log utility canautomatically create a proxy reference that is used in place of therecursive X-ref.

The use of a proxy reference in place of a problematic data structure isusually inconsequential to the comparison or clean-up process beingperformed because the problematic data structure oftentimes has a smallrole in the overall drawing. For example, a recursive or missing X-refis frequently created as a result of an improper revision to the X-ref.For instance, problems can arise when the user deletes an X-ref that isno longer needed, but does not delete the link to the X-ref. Without theproxy feature of the crash log utility, a system or CAD programperforming a batch compare or clean up can crash as a result of theproblem, thereby interrupting processing of the remainder of thedrawings scheduled for the batch process. Since batch processes areoften run without user supervision over an extended period of time, suchas during off hours, such crashes can result in a substantial loss ofcomputing time and efficiency.

As discussed above, in certain embodiments, when a proxy reference iscreated, the crash log utility creates a record in a file (e.g., thecrash log) so that information about the problematic data structure canbe subsequently accessed by the user. For instance, when the userselects the crash log utility button 730 of dialog box 729, a crash logreports dialog box 840 can be presented to the user, an example of whichis illustrated in FIG. 13C. As shown, the crash log reports dialog box840 presents a listing of the various averted crashes in a crash listing842. The crash log or crash listing 842 can also advantageously provideadditional data for each averted crash. For example, the crash listing842 can further include for each averted crash: a time of occurrence, ahost drawing number/name, a missing X-ref number/name, combinations ofthe same or like information those skilled in the art would consideruseful.

Thus, it will be understood from the disclosure herein that the batchcomparing of CAD drawings can advantageously be performed in connectionwith the crash log process 210 illustrated in FIG. 10F. For instance,because batch comparing can require a substantial amount of time and/orprocessing resources, such comparing can be preferably performedovernight. In order to avoid an unanticipated error from terminatingprematurely the entire batch comparison, the crash log process can beused to detect and record the probable causes of crashes and allow thebatch comparison to continue (e.g., with dummy drawings used in place ofidentified broken or corrupt X-refs).

A number of conversion options during a compare process can also beselected by the user as shown by a comparison options dialog box 714 inFIG. 12C. For instance, the comparison options dialog box 714 can beused for assisting in the conversion of objects from any type of CAD orother drawing program, such as AUTOCAD, into any type of third-partyprogram, such as AUTOSPRINK. The “X-refs” option gives the user theability to insert X-refs that are attached to the drawings to becompared (which is the default setting), or to ignore X-refs in thedrawings to be compared. The “Blocks” option gives the user the abilityto retain blocks as blocks, or to cause the blocks to be expanded(exploded) into the drawings as their individual elements. Since proxyobjects may be useful to some users when comparing results, the “ACADProxy” option either compares AUTOCAD proxy objects (when checked) orignores them, while the custom proxy option gives users the same optionfor non-AUTOCAD proxy objects.

The “3D solids” and “2D solids” options of dialog box 714 give the userthe ability to selectively compare such objects. Likewise, selecting theremaining checkboxes either causes the specified objects (e.g.,dimensions, polygons and polyface meshes), regions and hatches, to becompared or ignored.

In certain embodiments, once all the options have been selected, thecompare process begins by placing the base drawing file into an editorthat individually reads all the objects or entities and their associatedproperties, converts all the graphical objects to text, and places thetext in an array. The text and properties are then written out tostorage through a compressor that truncates the properties as much aspossible without losing data. When all the different types of objectshave been processed, the editor is purged and the revised drawing isinserted for processing in the same manner.

The text files generated from the compressor are then opened by objecttype (e.g., line, circle, etc.). Lines from the base drawing file areread and placed in an array, while lines from the revised drawing fileare read and placed in a separate array. The two arrays are thencompared and the results are drawn from the editor. This process isrepeated for all entities or objects in the drawing files. Once all theentities or objects have been compared and drawn from the editor, thecompare drawing is saved according to the user defined settings andoptions of FIGS. 12A-12C. The original makeup (layer structure) of theold and new drawings is stored to the compare drawing.

In addition to storing the layer structure, several types of non-objectdata can also be stored, such as the status of X-refs, blocks and othersettings. As previously noted, this enables variance square footmeasurements to be calculated, but also allows information to be storedabout the user, the workstation being used, date, time, combinations ofthe same or the like. The user also has the option to send the comparedrawing to other parties (e.g., as a digital plot, bitmap, JPEG or otherfile) along with notes and other details that enable the receiving partyto perform a task based on the information they were sent, which isuseful in the BIM context. Compare files can also be assigned tospecific directories and those directories can then be assigned orshared with interested parties.

Systems and methods disclosed herein have applicability to any tradeinvolved in the CAD building design process, or with respect to any typeof CAD drawing system, whether the system is being used to design roads,bridges, buildings, automobiles, aircraft or the like. For instance,with the execution of an appropriate command, inventive systems andmethods can perform a check of objects within a drawing to determine ifany conflicts exist between any objects. Moreover, in the context of abuilding design, each conflict can be detected and then be designated bytrade. For instance, the steel trade (e.g., columns and beams) can bedesignated separately from HVAC, plumbing, electrical, fire sprinkler,or any other trade. To visually highlight each conflict, an areasurrounding the conflict can be surrounded by a three-dimensionaltranslucent alert bubble element that permits a clear view of theobstructed situation, while drawing the user's attention to theconflict.

Furthermore, in certain embodiments, the systems and methods describedherein can advantageously be implemented using computer software,hardware, firmware, or any combination of software, hardware andfirmware. In certain embodiments, systems are implemented as a number ofsoftware modules that comprise computer executable code for performingthe functions described herein. In certain embodiments, thecomputer-executable code is executed on one or more general purposecomputers. However, a skilled artisan will appreciate, in light of thisdisclosure, that any module that can be implemented using software to beexecuted on a general purpose computer can also be implemented using adifferent combination of hardware, software or firmware. For example,such a module can be implemented completely in hardware using acombination of integrated circuits. Alternatively or additionally, sucha module can be implemented completely or partially using specializedcomputers designed to perform the particular functions described hereinrather than by general purpose computers.

Moreover, certain embodiments of the invention are described withreference to methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program productsthat can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computerprogram instructions can be provided to a processor of a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions,which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmabledata processing apparatus, create means for implementing the actsspecified herein to transform data from a first state to a second state.

These computer program instructions can be stored in a computer-readablememory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processingapparatus to operate in a particular manner, such that the instructionsstored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufactureincluding instruction means which implement the acts specified herein.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions that execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the acts specified herein.

Although the inventions herein have been disclosed in the context ofcertain preferred embodiments, examples and variations, it will beunderstood by those skilled in the art that the present inventionextends beyond the specifically disclosed embodiments to otheralternative embodiments and/or uses of the invention and obviousmodifications and equivalents thereof. In addition, while a number ofvariations of the inventions have been shown and described in detail,other modifications, which are within the scope of this invention, willbe readily apparent to those of skill in the art based upon thisdisclosure. It is also contemplated that various combinations orsubcombinations of the specific features and aspects of the embodimentsmay be made and still fall within the scope of the invention.

Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, “can,” “can,”“might,” “may,” “e.g.,” and the like, unless specifically statedotherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, isgenerally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, whileother embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/orstates. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended toimply that features, elements and/or states are in any way required forone or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarilyinclude logic for deciding, with or without author input or prompting,whether these features, elements and/or states are included or are to beperformed in any particular embodiment.

It should further be understood that various features and aspects of thedisclosed embodiments can be combined with or substituted for oneanother in order to form varying modes of the disclosed invention. Italso should be understood that various features and aspects of theembodiments disclosed in the applications incorporated by referenceabove can be combined with or substituted for one another in order toform varying systems and methods for managing and/or processing CADdrawings. Moreover, some variations that have been described withrespect to one embodiment and not another embodiment can be used withsuch other embodiments. Many other variations also have been describedherein and cross-application is intended where physically possible.Thus, it is intended that the scope of the present invention hereindisclosed should not be limited by the particular disclosed embodimentsdescribed above, but should be determined only by a fair reading of theclaims that follow.

1. A method for managing a batch of computer aided design (CAD)drawings, the method comprising: receiving with a first computing devicea plurality of CAD drawings associated with a design of one or morestructures, wherein the plurality of CAD drawings comprises at least onehost drawing and a plurality of external reference drawings; storing alist of the plurality of CAD drawings in a memory; for each of theplurality of CAD drawings, accessing an external reference listingwithin the CAD drawing structured to identify one or more externalreference drawings related to the particular CAD drawing, and if theexternal reference listing identifies no external reference drawings,storing an identification of the particular CAD drawing within a firstdatabase, otherwise, storing an identification of each of the one ormore external reference drawings within a second database; identifyingas external reference drawings, with a host manager module executing onthe first computing device, first ones of the plurality of CAD drawingsidentified in the second database and storing the external referencedrawings in a first location; identifying as stand-alone drawings, withthe host manager module, second ones of the plurality of CAD drawingsidentified in the first database and storing the stand-alone drawings ina second location; identifying as host drawings, with the host managermodule, third ones of the plurality of CAD drawings not identified in atleast one of the first database and the second database and storing thehost drawings in a third location; and outputting to a user interface anindication of the external reference drawings, the stand-alone drawingsand the host drawings.
 2. The method of claim 1, additionally comprisingidentifying as a broken reference each of the one or more externalreference drawings identified in the second database that is not alsoidentified in the list of the plurality of CAD drawings.
 3. The methodof claim 2, additionally comprising creating a blank CAD drawing foreach of the broken references.
 4. The method of claim 3, additionallycomprising assigning each blank CAD drawing a name of the correspondingbroken reference and storing each blank CAD drawing in the firstlocation.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of CADdrawings is received over a network.
 6. The method of claim 1,additionally comprising: attempting to open each of the plurality of CADdrawings; and for each of the plurality of CAD drawings that cannot besuccessfully opened, withholding an identification of the particular CADdrawing from the list of the plurality of CAD drawings.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the plurality of CAD drawings comprises a duplicate setof original drawings.
 8. The method of claim 1, additionally comprisingdisplaying through the user interface relationships between at least theexternal reference drawings and the host drawings of the plurality ofCAD drawings.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein said receiving comprisesreceiving the plurality of CAD drawings without information categorizingeach of the plurality of CAD drawings as an external reference drawing,a stand-alone drawing or a host drawing.
 10. A system for managing abatch of computer aided design (CAD) drawings, the system comprising: aplurality of CAD drawings comprising at least one host drawing and aplurality of external reference drawings; at least one storage deviceconfigured to store at least the plurality of CAD drawings and a list ofeach of the plurality of CAD drawings; a first database; a seconddatabase; and a host manager module executing on at least one computingdevice, the host manager module being configured to, for each of theplurality of CAD drawings, access a listing of the CAD drawing toidentify any external reference drawings associated with the particularCAD drawing, store an identification of the particular CAD drawing inthe first database if the listing identifies no external referencedrawings, and if the listing identifies one or more external referencedrawings, store an identification of each of the one or more externalreference drawings within the second database; and wherein the hostmanager module is further configured to, identify first ones of theplurality of CAD drawings identified in the second database as externalreference drawings and store the external reference drawings in a firstmemory location, identify second ones of the plurality of CAD drawingsidentified in the first database as stand-alone drawings and store thestand-alone drawings in a second memory location, and identify thirdones of the plurality of CAD drawings not identified in at least one ofthe first database and the second database as host drawings and storethe host drawings in a third memory location.
 11. The system of claim10, wherein the first, second and third memory locations comprise first,second and third folders in a file system.
 12. The system of claim 10,further comprising a user interface module configured to display to auser listings of the external reference drawings, stand-alone drawingsand host drawings of the plurality of CAD drawings.
 13. The system ofclaim 10, wherein the host manager module is further configured toidentify corrupt ones of the plurality of CAD drawings.
 14. The systemof claim 13, wherein the host manager module is further configured toreplace each of the corrupt drawings with blank CAD drawings.
 15. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein the host manager module is furtherconfigured to create a blank drawing for each of the corrupt drawingsand to assign the blank drawing a name of the corresponding corruptdrawing.
 16. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one computingdevice is configured to receive the plurality of CAD drawings over anetwork from a second computing device.
 17. The system of claim 10,wherein the plurality of CAD drawings comprises at least one hundred CADdrawings.
 18. The system of claim 10, wherein the listing comprises aplurality of network paths to each of the external reference drawingsrelated to the particular CAD drawing.
 19. A system for selectivelygrouping a batch of computer aided design (CAD) drawings, the systemcomprising: means for receiving a plurality of CAD drawings comprisingat least one host drawing and a plurality of external referencedrawings; means for storing a list of the plurality of CAD drawings;means for processing each of the plurality of CAD drawings by, accessinga listing of the CAD drawing structured to identify one or more externalreference drawings related to the particular CAD drawing, and if thelisting identifies no external reference drawings, storing anidentification of the particular CAD drawing within a first database,otherwise, storing an identification of each of the one or more externalreference drawings within a second database, storing first ones of theplurality of CAD drawings identified in the second database in a firstlocation, storing second ones of the plurality of CAD drawingsidentified in the first database in a second location, and storing thirdones of the plurality of CAD drawings not identified in at least one ofthe first database and the second database in a third location; andmeans for displaying relationships between at least a portion of the CADdrawings stored in the first and third locations.
 20. The system ofclaim 19, further comprising means for creating blank drawings for eachof the one or more external reference drawings identified in the seconddatabase that is not also identified in the list of the plurality of CADdrawings.